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Human Rights Handbook for Parliamentarians

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HUMAN RIGHTS HANDBOOK FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS This publication is intended for parliamentarians who want to familiarize themselves with the framework that has been set up since 1945 by the United Nations and regional organizations to protect and promote human rights. It presents the notion of human rights and the meaning of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It specifies the State's obligations to protect and promote human rights, and con- tains suggestions as to action parliaments and their members may take to con- tribute to their implementation. HUMAN RIGHTS - HANDBOOK FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS Nº 8 - 2005 OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS HUMAN RIGHTS: A HANDBOOK FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS Th e sons of Adam are like the limbs of the same body. For they share the same essence in creation. When one limb is put to pain Th e other limbs cannot remain at rest O thou who do not feel the suff erings of mankind Th ou deservest not to be called a human being. Sadi, Gulistan (Th e Rose Garden, 1258) i Author: Th e Handbook was written by Mr. Manfred Nowak, Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights at the University of Vienna and United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, with contributions from Mr. Jeroen Klok (OHCHR) and Ms. Ingeborg Schwarz (IPU). Comments were received from: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Th e members of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians: Ms. Ann Clwyd (United Kingdom), Mr. Juan Pablo Letelier (Chile), Mr. Mahamane Ousmane (Niger), Ms. Veronika Nedvĕdová (Czech Republic) and Mr. Mahinda Samarasinghe (Sri Lanka); and IPU offi cials: Mr. Anders B. Johnsson and Mr. Rogier Huizenga. Offi ce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): Mr. Zdzislaw Kedzia, Ms. Jane Connors, Mr. Markus Schmidt and Mr. Julian Burger. Original version: English Cover design by Aloys Robellaz, les Studios Lolos, Carouge, Switzerland Printed in France by SADAG, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine ii Foreword Human rights have pervaded much of the political discourse since the Second World War. While the struggle for freedom from oppression and misery is prob- ably as old as humanity itself, it was the massive aff ront to human dignity per- petrated during that War, and the need felt to prevent such horror in the future, which put the human being back at the centre and led to the codifi cation at the international level of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations declares “promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion” as one of the purposes of the Organization. Th e Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, was the fi rst step towards achieving this objective. It is seen as the authoritative interpretation of the term “human rights” in the Charter of the United Nations. Th e Universal Declaration together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Eco- nomic, Social and Cultural Rights, both adopted in 1966, constitute what has be- come known as the International Bill of Human Rights. Since 1948, human rights and fundamental freedoms have indeed been codifi ed in hundreds of universal and regional, binding and non-binding instruments, touching almost every aspect of human life and covering a broad range of civil, political, economic, social and cul- tural rights. Th us, the codifi cation of human rights has largely been completed. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, has recently pointed out, today’s main challenge is to implement the adopted standards. In previous years, attention has increasingly turned towards the parliament as the State institution through which people exercise their right, enshrined in article 21 of the Universal Declaration, to participate in the conduct of the public aff airs of the country. Indeed, if human rights are to become a reality for everyone, parlia- ments must fully play their role and exercise to this eff ect the specifi c powers they have, namely legislating, adopting the budget and overseeing the Government. iii As an organization that shares the United Nations concern for human rights, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) seeks to strengthen the role of parliaments as guardians of human rights. Th e activities it has undertaken over the years to this end have shown that all too often parliamentarians know little about the interna- tional legal human rights framework, the obligations their countries have entered into by signing human rights treaties, and the various international and regional human rights bodies and mechanisms that exist to monitor their implementation. Indeed, parliamentarians could do a lot more in favour of human rights. Hence, the suggestion that IPU and the Offi ce of the United Nations High Com- missioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations body specifi cally man- dated to promote and protect the eff ective enjoyment by all of all civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, should publish a handbook with basic infor- mation about human rights and the international and regional systems designed to promote and protect them. Th e task of drawing up the Handbook was entrusted to a renowned human rights expert, Mr. Manfred Nowak, currently the United Nations Special Rappor- teur on Torture. In carrying out this task he drew on the input and guidance of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and offi cials of both OHCHR and IPU. It is not diffi cult to see that, in spite of the human rights norms, standards and principles that have been established by the international community, we are far from living in a world “free from fear and want” to which the founders of the United Nations had aspired. It is therefore the hope of both organizations that the Handbook will become a major tool for parliamentarians all over the world to gauge their legislative, oversight and representative activities against the human rights obligations their countries have entered into, and will assist them in playing the important role they have for the promotion and protection of human rights at home, and worldwide. Louise Arbour Anders B. Johnsson United Nations Secretary General High Commissioner for Human Rights Inter-Parliamentary Union iv WHAT DOES THE HANDBOOK CONTAIN? • Part I provides an overview of the general principles governing human rights law and the obligations States have entered into under international human rights law. It presents the international and regional legal framework in the fi eld of human rights and explains the functioning of the diff erent international and re- gional human rights bodies, including those that monitor the implementation of the major international human rights treaties. • In Part II, Chapter 11 is devoted to parliamentary action to promote and protect human rights. It gives concrete examples of what parliaments and their mem- bers can do in this area. “What you can do” boxes provide a checklist for such action. • Chapters 12 and 13 aim to describe the core content of each right guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and answer questions such as “What does the right to fair trial mean?” or “What is the right to an adequate standard of living?” Th e chapters deal only with the fundamental rights that were fur- ther elaborated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and do not include the right to property. v vi HUMAN RIGHTS: A HANDBOOK FOR PARLIAMENTARIANS TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword . iii PART I Chapter 1: What are human rights ? . 1 Defi nition . 1 Basic human rights principles . 4 Human rights and State sovereignty . 8 Democracy, human rights and parliaments . 8 Chapter 2: What State obligations arise from human rights? . .11 Chapter 3: International human rights instruments . 17 Th e emergence of international human rights law . .17 Th e International Bill of Human Rights . .17 Core human rights treaties . .18 Other human rights instruments of the United Nations . 19 Chapter 4: May Governments restrict human rights? . 21 Limitation clauses . 21 Derogation in a state of emergency . 23 Reservations to international or regional human rights treaties . 23 Counter-terrorism measures and human rights . 24 Chapter 5: United Nations human rights treaty-monitoring bodies . 27 Membership and functioning . 27 Reporting procedure . 28 Individual complaints procedure . 29 Inter-State complaints procedure . 30 Inquiry procedures under CAT and the Optional Protocol to CEDAW . 32 Th e system of regular visits to detention centres established under the Optional Protocol to CAT . 33 vii Chapter 6: Charter-based system of human rights protection under the United Nations Commission on Human Rights . 35 Th e confi dential “1503 procedure” . 35 Th e special procedures . 36 Th e Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights . 38 Chapter 7: The Offi ce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights . 39 Chapter 8: Integrating human rights into the work of the United Nations . 43 Human rights in the General Assembly and its permanent programmes . 44 Human rights and the Security Council . 44 Human rights and the “United Nations family” . 45 Chapter 9: Regional human rights treaties and monitoring . 49 Africa . 49 Th e Americas . .51 Arab region . .51 Asia and the Pacifi c . 52 Europe . 52.
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